


The Ongoing Struggle

by Star_Jelly



Category: Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood & Manga
Genre: Angst, Chronic Pain, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Sick Character, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-28
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:54:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24429790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_Jelly/pseuds/Star_Jelly
Summary: Edward is struggling with pain from his automail and Winry does what she can to help him
Relationships: Edward Elric/Winry Rockbell
Comments: 2
Kudos: 75





	The Ongoing Struggle

“Edward? It’s almost noon, are you ok?”  
Winry stood at the bedroom door as the kids played in the next room. What was he doing? Sure he was a late sleeper, but he never slept in this late.  
“Ed, I’m coming in.”  
She slowly opened the door and stepped inside. The bed was empty...in fact, the room was empty. Where was he?  
“Edward?”  
The response she got was retching coming from the next room.  
Oh no.  
She dove into the adjacent bathroom, where she found him on his hands and knees, hunched over and vomiting.  
“Ed!” She knelt beside him and began rubbing circles on his back as he coughed.  
“It’s my stump again.” He groaned, his voice hoarse.  
Oh god, how did she not see it sooner? She should’ve known—no, she had to stop feeling sorry for herself, there wasn’t any time for that.  
“When did this start?”  
“As soon as I woke up.” He groaned quietly. “I laid there for a while hoping it would go away—“  
He coughed, hunching over again.  
Winry left his side for a moment and came back with a cold, wet rag, placing it on the back of his neck. Ed shuddered at the sensation.  
“I’ll stay with you until it’s over. Just try to breathe slow, ok?”  
They sat there, silent, Ed shaking and breathing ragged, Winry’s hand on his back.  
After a few minutes, Winry spoke up.  
“Can you stand?”  
Edward paused, before carefully pushing himself upright, his moves slow and shaky. When he was upright, he tried to stand, immediately letting out a sharp groan and falling against Winry.  
“Here.” She carefully put her arm around him and hauled him up, guiding him to the bed.  
“I’ll call someone to keep an eye on the kids. Just sit tight.”

The next few minutes were a painful blur; he could hear her talking to the kids in the next room, and the front door opening after a while, but he couldn’t pick up on much else. It was hard to focus on anything but the pain.  
Suddenly the door opened. He could hear her voice through the crack in the door.  
“I know sweetie, just go play with your Uncle Alphonse for now. I need to stay with daddy until he feels better, ok?”  
The door opened and Winry stepped inside to see him hunched over, hugging his leg, forehead pressed against his knee. She could hear his labored breathing from across the room. It must’ve been really bad this time. That’s not to say days like this weren’t usually bad, but the vomiting was usually a clear sign that it was a particularly bad day. That paired with how hard he was breathing meant that he was in a lot of pain.  
“I brought painkillers. I know you have trouble keeping them down on your bad days, but it’s worth a shot.”  
He let out a groan in response. She sat down on the bed beside him. He looked up and their eyes met, her eyebrows knitted together.  
“I can always tell when it’s really bad because you don’t talk.”  
He settled his chin against his knee, looking at her with tired eyes. She brushed a hand against his forehead.  
“You have a fever too. I had a feeling you would.” She ran her hand from his forehead down to his cheek, cupping it. He leaned into her touch, the only thing keeping him grounded in the middle of all this.  
After a moment, she stood up. “Try and take the painkillers and drink the water I brought you if you can. I’m gonna go get something to hopefully bring your fever down.”  
She turned to walk to the bathroom.  
“Winry.”  
She turned to face him. He had his forehead pressed against his knee again.  
“I’m sorry to do this to you Winry.” He murmured, not looking up. “You’re busy enough as it is without having to deal with me.”  
“Ed, I’m not going to make you deal with this alone. I didn’t back then and I won’t now. Now lay back; I know you want to curl up, but that’ll only make it worse.”  
He did as he said, carefully stretching himself out.  
She returned a minute later with the washcloth from earlier, and placed it on his head before sitting down next to him.  
He let out a soft groan. He was squirming, gripping the sheets and trying to keep himself from arching backward.  
“I know.” She said softly. “Squeeze my hand if it helps.” He did as she said, stifling another groan.  
“Don’t grind your teeth. You can groan if it helps.” He didn’t even notice that he was grinding his teeth. “I don’t want the kids to hear and get worried.” He murmured.  
“They won’t hear anything, they’re a couple rooms down. You’re ok.”  
He let out a sharp groan, screwing his eyes shut and arching backward. He hated doing this to her, making her take time out of her already busy schedule to look after him, making her worry. He felt like such a burden, and he couldn’t do anything about it. He hated doing this to her.  
After a few—minutes? hours?—Winry spoke up again.  
“You feeling any better?”  
He shook his head, not opening his eyes.  
She let go of his hand and stood up.  
“I’m gonna go get you some more water, ok?”  
He could hear her footsteps receding.  
“I’m sorry, Winry.” He murmured, half to himself and half to her. “I’m sorry.”  
“Hey, remember what I said? I won’t let you deal with this alone.”  
He groaned, gritting his teeth and trying to relax as much as he could.  
“Hey.”  
He looked over in time to see her crouching beside him. She took his hand, giving it a gentle kiss.  
“When I said ‘in sickness and in health’, I meant it.”


End file.
